Robert C. McLeod

As I said before, we anticipate being completed during the 2016 building season and they have had some challenges on the terrain, but I think that the contractors are more than equipped to deal with it. If there are any foreseen circumstances or if there is some delay of any kind, then I will be sure to let the Members of this Assembly know.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Heritage Fund Act was enacted on August 1, 2012, and the legislation establishes a trust fund as a long-term investment in which surplus funds typically received from resource royalties may be transferred at the discretion of a Legislative Assembly. Once transferred, these funds become part of the principal of the Heritage Fund. Under the Act, for the first 20 years once first contribution is made, both the principal and the interest, or the income generated by the fund, are retained in the fund. After 20 years have passed, transfers out of the fund for use...

I would be pleased to provide committee with a briefing, or I can compile some information as far as a briefing note goes, and submit that to committee and then they can determine whether they want to have a briefing or not.

We anticipate being completed this summer. The original project was supposed to be lights on during 2016, and that is still the plan. Of the approximate 1,200-kilometre volume, 733 kilometres have been completed up to the end of the 2015 building season, so we still have plenty of time to have the remaining line laid before June 2016.

No, I haven't had a conversation with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment yet. But, as I said before, once I get a better understanding of some of the skill sets that might be needed and some of the training courses that we may be able to offer, I will have a conversation with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to see if there's an opportunity for us to consider running some courses that might be beneficial to a number of our students. In my conversations with the folks from DLR in Germany, I had talked to them about the fact that if they can send folks over to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is work is progressing along very well and my understanding is that it’s supposed to be lights-on during 2016. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It would be applicationbased, and then each application will be looked at. Based on its merit, it will determine whether the application is approved or not, and the application process will go through the Department of Lands.

What I said was that we would like to see all the land claims settled. That way, there might be more land available that is within their claims area. If it's not in their claims area, there are still opportunities to access lands that they could potentially use for agriculture. We have a lot of communities that have community gardens. I believe all 33 communities have community gardens. We have to continue to look at the options and try and promote and endorse the locally grown foods, and that would help the cost of living across the Northwest Territories.

We have taken that into consideration and we have to understand that we're facing some challenges fiscally, and with some of the asks from this Legislative Assembly going forward we're going to be having to manage our finances a lot closer. But I take the Member's point and we will have an opportunity to have a discussion concerning the savings that we need to realize during the business planning process and when we table the Main Estimates.

The announcement that was made a few days ago freezing the salaries for all managers, excluded employees, and deputy ministers, I think the total was about 844 people. What we are doing is freezing the grids, so there is still an opportunity for them to progress through the grids that they're in right now, up to about, my understanding is, 2.5 per cent a year. If they haven't reached the top of their grid, there's still opportunity there for them. The grids are frozen, though.